New Delhi’s CNG experience
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:31:00 07/19/2008
FOR MORE THAN FIVE YEARS NOW, ALL PUBLIC buses, taxis and auto rickshaws in New Delhi have been running on compressed natural gas (CNG), a fuel that costs less and is cleaner than diesel and gasoline.
The shift to CNG has brought huge savings to drivers and owners of public utility vehicles. A kilogram of CNG costs just a third of a liter of gasoline and half of that of diesel.
The use of CNG also has resulted in significant benefits to the environment and to the health of New Delhi’s residents.
Five car models (Maruti Omni and Gypsy, Premier Padmini and 118NE, and Ambassador) running on CNG have been found to emit 87 percent to 98 percent less carbon monoxide and 11 percent to 32 percent less hydrocarbon than those powered by gasoline, according to a study by Gas Authority of India Ltd., the gas distribution arm of the Delhi government. For buses (Ashok Leyland), the reduction in particulate-matter emission was 98 percent, nitrogen oxide 42 percent, carbon monoxide 19 percent and hydrocarbon 17 percent, said Ashok Leyland, a bus manufacturer.
After the entire public sector transport fleet switched to CNG, pollution levels improved. In 2003, Delhi won the “Clean Cities International Award” from the US Department of Energy.
Before the CNG program, the annual level of particulates (microscopic dust that embeds in the lungs) in Delhi was 143 micrograms per cubic meter. In 2005, the level dropped to 115 micrograms, according to the Delhi-based Center for Science and Environment. High exposure to particulates can lead to asthma, lung disease, chronic bronchitis and damage to the heart.
The road to CNG use in the capital was not easy. Environmentalists had to petition the Supreme Court to compel the city government to require public utility vehicles to use the fuel. Reluctantly, the Delhi government complied.
The improvement in air quality, however, is being threatened by the dramatic rise in car ownership in the city. Last year, some 960 new private vehicles were registered for use in Delhi’s roads every day.
The launch of the world’s cheapest car, a $2,500-vehicle manufactured by the Indian firm Tata, is expected to contribute further to the proliferation of cars and to the deterioration of air quality in Delhi. The level of particulates in the air already rose to 136 micrograms in 2006 from 115 the year before.
Sunita Narain, director of the Center for Science and Environment, said the gains of the CNG bus program were being lost due to the influx of diesel cars.
By Juan V. Sarmiento Jr. (He and Ernie Sambo, Inquirer graphics designer, attended an Ifra seminar on infographics in the Indian capital last month.)
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Auto rickshaw mileage
An auto rickshaw with a mileage of 25 km/liter of gasoline
is expected to have a mileage of 34.75 km/kg of CNG
Bus mileage
A bus with a mileage of 3.5 km/liter of diesel
is expected to have a mileage of 3.5 km/kg of CNG
Fuel prices (third week of June)
Rs18.90
Per kg of CNG (1 rupee = P1.04)
Rs50 to Rs55
Per liter of gasoline
Rs38
Per liter of diesel
163
Including 23 stations exclusively for the fleet of Delhi Transport Corp. in its depots
1.25M kg
daily on the average. Indraprastha Gas Ltd., the sole supplier of CNG
in Delhi, operates the stations.
No. of vehicles*
80,276 Auto rickshaws
11,665 Buses
7,664 Taxis
*as of Feb. 29
Taxi mileage
A car that has a mileage of 15 km/liter of gasoline
is expected to have a mileage of 20.85 km/kg of CNG
City profile
Population:
17.076 million
(2008 estimate)
Area:
1,483 square
kilometers
Per capita GDP:
$1,442 compared with $600 nationwide (as of April 2008)
Languages spoken: Hindi, English,
Urdu and Punjabi
Timeline
November 1990: Supreme Court asks Delhi government to set policies addressing air pollution.
1991: Supreme Court orders Gas Authority of India Ltd., Delhi government’s gas distribution arm, to switch over to clean fuel and set up CNG stations.
March 1995: Conversion of government vehicles to CNG
April 1995: Mandatory fitting of catalytic converters
April 1996: Low sulphur diesel introduced
April 1997: Mandatory use of propane for auto rickshaws
July 1998: Supreme Court orders that the entire Delhi bus fleet be converted to CNG.
August 1998: Launching of CNG buses in Delhi
September 1998: Removal of lead in petrol
February 2000: Diesel-run vehicles ordered to conform to Euro II standards for registration
March 2000: Replacement of all pre-1990 autos and taxis with new vehicles on clean fuel
April 2000: Phasing out of eight-year-old buses
March 2001: Replacement of post-1990 autos and taxis with new vehicles on clean fuel
September 2001: Motor
Vehicles Act amended to include CNG
November 2002: Conversion of all public transport buses to CNG
Sources: United Nations Environment Program; India Ministry of Environment and Forests
Lawrence de Guzman, Inquirer Research
SOURCES: Indraprastha Gas Ltd. (mileage, and CNG price and stations); Atul Mathur, Hindustan Times correspondent covering the transportation beat (gasoline and diesel prices, and number of vehicles); Rickshaw driver Umesh Ghopal (gave a lower mileage of 15-20 km/kg of CNG); International Herald Tribune-Nov. 6, 2007 (pollution levels and car sales); Delhi official website (population, area and language); and India Brand Equity Foundation (per capita GDP)
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